Luke Robert Babbitt (born June 20, 1989) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the Nevada Wolf Pack before declaring for the 2010 NBA draft following his sophomore year.Luke Babbitt Bio
/ref> He was selected by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

with the 16th overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, then traded to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

Early life

Babbitt was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. At the age of nine his family moved to

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. Babbitt attended Galena High School, where he was a 3-time All-State performer and a two-time

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

State Player of the Year in

. As a junior, Babbitt averaged 27.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while leading Galena to a state championship. Babbitt finished his high school career by scoring 2,941 points, which broke future college teammate Armon Johnson's Nevada state scoring record of 2,616 points. Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Babbitt was listed as the No. 12

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

and the No. 31 player in the nation in 2008.

College career

After originally verbally committing to Ohio State, Babbitt backed out and decided to attend the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded ...

. In his first game, Babbitt recorded a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double versus Montana State. He went on to average 16.9 points per game during his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

year including a season-high 30 points on March 12, 2009, versus San Jose State. In his sophomore season, Babbitt led the team in scoring with 21.9 points per game. He scored a career-high 33 points in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

tournament semifinals on March 13, 2010, versus

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

. Despite losing that game and ending their hopes of going to the NCAA Tournament, Nevada was invited to the NIT, where they lost in the second round to the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

. On April 20, 2010, Babbitt hired an agent and declared for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

Professional career

Portland Trail Blazers (2010–2013)

Babbitt was selected with the 16th overall pick by the

in the 2010 NBA draft. His rights were later traded, along with Wolves forward Ryan Gomes, to the

in exchange for Martell Webster. On July 9, 2010, Babbitt signed his rookie contract with the Blazers. He then joined the Blazers for the 2010 NBA Summer League. Luke Babbitt Blazers

On December 8, 2010, Babbitt was assigned to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League. On December 18, 2010, he was recalled by the Trail Blazers. On March 3, 2011, he was reassigned to the Idaho Stampede. On March 28, 2011, he was recalled by the Trail Blazers. On January 4, 2012, he was reassigned to the Idaho Stampede. On January 10, 2012, he was recalled again. Babbitt joined the Trail Blazers for the 2012 NBA Summer League.

Nizhny Novgorod (2013–2014)

In August 2013, Babbitt signed with

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

of Russia for the 2013–14 season. In January 2014, he left Russia under controversial circumstances.

New Orleans Pelicans (2014–2016)

On February 4, 2014, Babbitt signed with the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

. On July 20, 2015, he re-signed with the Pelicans.

Miami Heat (2016–2017)

On July 10, 2016, Babbitt was traded to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

in exchange for a 2018 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.

Atlanta Hawks (2017–2018)

Babbitt signed with the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

on August 9, 2017.

Return to Miami (2018)

Babbitt was traded back to the Heat on February 8, 2018, in exchange for

Okaro White Okaro White (born August 13, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for BC Zenit Saint Petersburg, Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for Florida State Seminoles men's basketball, Florida St ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 24 , , 0 , , 5.7 , , .273 , , .188 , , .333 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .1 , , .1 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 40 , , 4 , , 13.4 , , .410 , , .430 , , .850 , , 2.4 , , .4 , , .3 , , .1 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 62 , , 0 , , 11.8 , , .368 , , .348 , , .769 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .2 , , .1 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, 27 , , 2 , , 17.5 , , .390 , , .379 , , .778 , , 3.3 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .4 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 63 , , 19 , , 13.2 , , .479 , , .513 , , .684 , , 1.8 , , .4 , , .3 , , .2 , , 4.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 13 , , 18.0 , , .422 , , .404 , , .780 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, 68 , , 55 , , 15.7 , , .402 , , .414 , , .733 , , 2.1 , , .5 , , .3 , , .2 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 37 , , 9 , , 15.4 , , .476 , , .441 , , .773 , , 2.2 , , .7 , , .2 , , .1 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 5 , , 11.2 , , .234 , , .244 , , .000 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , .1 , , .2 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 381 , , 107 , , 14.0 , , .408 , , .402 , , .747 , , 2.2 , , .6 , , .2 , , .2 , , 4.8

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 1.5 , , .000 , , – , , – , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 2 , , 0 , , 1.5 , , .000 , , – , , – , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;",

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, 34 , , 34 , , 32.6 , , .456 , , .429 , , .864 , , 7.4 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .7 , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Nevada , 34 , , 34 , , 37.1 , , .500 , , .416 , , .917 , , 8.9 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , 21.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 68 , , 68 , , 34.9 , , .480 , , .421 , , .893 , , 8.1 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .8 , , 19.4

Awards and recognition

* 2008–09 WAC Freshman of the Year * 2008–09 WAC 1st Team All- Conference * 2008–09 WAC Newcomer of the Year * 2009–10 WAC All-Decade Team * 2009–10

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue, with the cover line "NEXT.," was published on March 11, 1998 (cover date March 23, 1998), and featured K ...

Academic

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

* 2009–10 AP All American Honorable Mention * 2009–10 Naismith Award mid-season finalistLuke Babbitt Named National Finalist
/ref> * 2009–10 WAC Player of the Year * 2009–10 WAC 1st Team All- Conference * 2008–2010 2× WAC All-Tournament Team * 2023 Galena High School Athletic Hall of Fame Award

References

External links

Luke Babbitt
at nevadawolfpack.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Babbitt, Luke 1989 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Nevada Basketball players from Cincinnati BC Nizhny Novgorod players High school basketball coaches in Nevada Idaho Stampede players McDonald's High School All-Americans Miami Heat players Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball players New Orleans Pelicans players 21st-century American sportsmen Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Portland Trail Blazers players Small forwards Sportspeople from Reno, Nevada